Tag: MMA Media Watch

UFC Will Stream Fights on Facebook

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, NewsThe UFC has announced that two fights on the non-televised portion of Saturday night’s Fight for the Troops event will be streamed live on the promotion’s official Facebook page.

“I’m always looking for ways to g…

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The UFC has announced that two fights on the non-televised portion of Saturday night’s Fight for the Troops event will be streamed live on the promotion’s official Facebook page.

“I’m always looking for ways to give fans fights for free and this is just another example of that,” UFC President Dana White said in a statement. “Facebook is such a great tool for people to stay connected and we’re excited to put two live fights on our UFC page for free.”

The UFC, more than any other sports league, has used social networking to connect to fans. So from that perspective, it’s easy to see why they’d do this Facebook deal. But the deal still seems a little weird.

Greg Jackson Evangelizes for MMA on Local TV

Filed under: MMA Media WatchThis local TV news interview with mixed martial arts coach Greg Jackson doesn’t break any news for anyone who follows the sport, but it’s interesting for a few reasons anyway.

For starters, it’s a reminder of how far MMA is…

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This local TV news interview with mixed martial arts coach Greg Jackson doesn’t break any news for anyone who follows the sport, but it’s interesting for a few reasons anyway.

For starters, it’s a reminder of how far MMA is from being mainstream: When a local channel (in this case, KRQE in Albuquerque) does a show on MMA, they feel the need to spend a full minute telling the viewers to brace themselves because it’s “not for the faint of heart.” It’s just assumed that most of the viewers will have no idea what MMA is, and will be turned off when they see the footage.

But once we get that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, the interview is also interesting because Jackson does such an impressive job of portraying MMA as a cerebral exercise, not a violent competition.

Pat Miletich Should Tone Down the Shilling on Showtime

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, StrikeforcePat Miletich is the best broadcaster in mixed martial arts at recognizing the action in the cage and explaining it in a way that’s accessible to fans. There’s no one as good as Miletich, a former UFC champ, at t…

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Pat Miletich is the best broadcaster in mixed martial arts at recognizing the action in the cage and explaining it in a way that’s accessible to fans. There’s no one as good as Miletich, a former UFC champ, at taking his experience as a fighter and applying it as a broadcaster.

That’s why it’s so disappointing that Miletich does so much to destroy his own credibility by shilling for the Strikeforce product, offering blatantly dishonest analysis designed to make Strikeforce fights and fighters sound better than they are.

Miletich’s technical analysis was on display Friday night on the Strikeforce Challengers broadcast on Showtime, at least when there was good action in the cage for Miletich to analyze. Unfortunately, the rest of the time, Miletich overstated the quality of the fights and the fighters.

Dana White Expects to Know ‘Ultimate Fighter’ Coaches on Friday

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, WECIn the week and a half since the Finale of The Ultimate Fighter Season 12, speculation has run rampant about who the coaches will be for the show’s 13th season, which will begin taping in early 2011. UFC President …

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Dana WhiteIn the week and a half since the Finale of The Ultimate Fighter Season 12, speculation has run rampant about who the coaches will be for the show’s 13th season, which will begin taping in early 2011. UFC President Dana White said on Wednesday that he’s about 48 hours away from knowing the coaches’ identities.

“We should have it done by Friday,” White said at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, where he announced that the UFC would host a fight card in Brazil in August.

So who are the likely choices?

Live MMA Coming to MTV2 With New Bellator Deal

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, BellatorThe latest channel to venture into televising live mixed martial arts fights is a network few had expected: MTV2.

Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that it has reached a three-year deal to air live f…

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The latest channel to venture into televising live mixed martial arts fights is a network few had expected: MTV2.

Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that it has reached a three-year deal to air live fights on MTV2, starting in 2011. Bellator will continue with its seasonal format of 12-week, eight-fighter tournaments, with the next tournament beginning in March.

At first blush, MMA and MTV might seem like strange bedfellows. For that matter, MTV and any sport would seem to be a strange pairing — isn’t MTV supposed to be music television?